Newspapers / North Carolina School of … / Feb. 1, 2005, edition 1 / Page 9
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ncssm Food Review Caroline Saul and Ying Liu "inth ' * Street is renowned for its plethora eateries from around the globe. However, as one strolls along Ninth Street the colorful banners overhead blend together, It is easy to pass by and not notice the lesser known restaurants. Most Science and Mathers know to go to Bank’s on Saturday because of the spe cial and authentic lunch menu. One of the most popular dish es is their Special #1. It con sists of a bowl of rice noodles in broth with shrimp, pork, and vegetables. It’s a light but savory dish that leaves you all warm inside. It’s basically the Chinese equivalent to chicken noodle soup. For those of you who miss Asian home cook ing, this is the place to go. Another very popular dish is the vegetarian plate. It consists of fried tofu in a soy sauce based sauce topped with fried scallions along with sticky rice and a spring roll. For those of you who love tofu, you will love this dish. Even if you don’t love tofu, you may find yourself loving it. The tofu is very strongly flavored and some complain MdweVer, ft is generally better than cafete ria tofii and very close to real Chinese food. The dish comes with sticky rice, a richer ver sion of white rice, and a white spring roll made with rice noodles. Unlike traditional eggrolls, it is not fried and is cold but comes with a deli cious dipping sauce. This dish is favored by grand seniors and many of them can be seen eating outside on Saturday afternoons. The mixed vegetable plate was neither as colorful nor as zesty as dishes students create themselves at Bali Hai; however, it was delightfully satisfying. This combination of broccoli, cabbage, water chestnuts, and carrots in soy sauce is served over your choice of steamed or fried rice. It is one of only two veg etarian entree choices. Bank’s also serves many lesser known items. It serves a salad roll which is very similar to the spring roll, but it contains pork and shrimp. They also serve steamed sticky rice mixed with poric and beans. This is similar to a traditional Chinese dish called zhongzi, where you steam sticky rice and beans in fragrant leaves which are folded in distinct patterns. Bank’s also serves a chicken curry turnover as well as more traditional Chinese restaurant fare like egg rolls, kungpao chicken, and fried rice. Jasmine Rowe NCSSM’s Pupil A week after I returned to NCSSM for my senior year, I discov ered a small scrap of paper in a dusty comer of my room. Nothing more but a small ball of paper, I thought it of lit tle significance until I real ized there was writing on its ragged surface. Though shredded and worn, I was still able to flatten the paper effectively and discern its words, recognizing them as the words of Rousseau; finding these words inspir ing, I immediately retyped them. The quotation has now been printed and is taped on an exposed portion of my desk, where it can always been seen while I work. Whenever I lose focus, on the occasions when my view of my goals blurs, I glance at Rousseau’s surprisingly insightful words of wisdom: “As for my pupil, or rather Nature’s pupil, he has been trained to be as self- reliant as possible, he has not formed the habit of constantly seeking help from others, still less displaying his stores of learning. On the other hand, he exercises discrimination and forethought, he reasons .. about eveiything that concerns. himself He does not chatter, he acts.” Generally, this statement works to motivate me more than a pep talk from a friend. Here, in a brief paragraph, the qualities of an ideal student are summarized, and having read them, it becomes apparent that emulating a model of such per fection is actually quite sim ple. Reading this statement has recently, however, caused me to consider some discon certing prospects about Science and Math students, for each day the painful fact that few here live by Rousseau’s words becomes more appar ent. From an outside spectator, this may not seem to be the case; Science and Math stu dents seem quite self-suffi cient in comparison to stu dents from other schools, and pupils from other institu tions would not have the opportunity to experience the true habits of Science and Math students. Being a stu dent at this school, I feel that our perspective would be the clearest if we were not so blinded by our own immense potential. A handful of students that people invariably seek assis tance from is inevitable at every school. One person’s strength will always be anoth er’s weakness, and there is no fault in inquiring for help from individuals whose understand ing of a concept is better than one's own. The faculties of these select few students seem to be utilized more frequently now, however, than they have been in the past, their confused peers so often needing clarifi cation that the assisting stu dents have less time to digest information for them- “I discovered a small scrap of paper in a dusty corner of my room.. I readied there waswritinoonits raooed surface je^J selves. Recently, I asked a junior why she habitu ally asked me for aid in one of her science courses when directing her was not helping her retain the information, being sufficient only long enough for her to pass a quiz or homework assignment. To my surprise, her response was “I attempt an assignment one or two times; if I don’t under stand after this, I go and ask for help...I don’t like failing assign ments.” Asking for help is not a weakness, nor does it imply that the student lacks the intelligence to grasp a concept. On the contrary, questioning infor mation is an effi cient way to leam, and intelli gent, curious students are often the ones being inquisi tive. Depending solely on oth ers to teach you is far less benign a habit, preventing the questioning student from learning and becoming a crutch more debilitating than helpful. If attempting to solve a problem twice is not suffi cient, giving up and asking is not either; it is more benefi cial, in the long run, to strug- gle through the challenge a Lfor each day the painful fact that few here llvehyReusseau’swerds hecemes mere appar ent.” few more times, asking questions when finished or when it is truly impossible to continue. Academically suc cessful students understand best after making an effort to do so, their tenacity paying off with an impenetrable under standing of the concept they originally battled. Should one surrender to the difficulty of his conundrum, immediately asking someone else to help him solve it, there is no guar antee that later, during a test or simply while trying to recall the information for personal reasons, that information will be as reliable. Intellectual stu dents never lack curiosity, fre quently asking questions, but rarely, it seems, should the “show me how to do this; then do it for me” request be made, and even more rarely do teachers respond to it; even they prefer that the student makes an effort to develop an understand ing for him or herself before asking other ques tions. To this end, it would behoove the student to not “form the habit of con stantly seeking help from others,” asking for questions only when it is imperative or helpful. Abuse of assistance is not the only aspect in which Rousseau would be disap pointed with NCSSM’s stu dents. Not only did his student refrain from incessantly asking for help, but he also resisted the tempting urge to “display his stores of learning.” One “Ms for mjf noon, or rathor nature's oubU, he nasOeentrafuedto be as self- reliant as possible, be has not fermen the habit of eonstantlv seekine help from others, still less msplavlnp bis stores ofleamlnp. On the other band, be exercises discrimination and fore- theuebt be reasons about euenitblne tbatconcernshlmsell. He dees not chat ter, be acts." r ■pall would not ask a Science and Math student to feign stupidi ty; few would benefit from this, and it is doubtless that some students were forced to perform this charade at past schools. It is unnecessary, however, for academics to become competitive to the point where the students relentlessly boast about their own abilities. Many students claim to despise people who sing their own praises too often, and yet so many are guilty of this here. Papers with “A+” markings are posted on people’s doors; stu dents in class can be heard comparing their grades, a student with i ninety-eight average scoffing the student beside her with the contemptible ninety- five; schedules are perpetually compared to see who is busier, for being industrious is appar ently indicative of intelli gence; and accomplishments are listed for all to know about. The constant pettiness of it all leaves a burning question to be asked: for whom are some of these students learning? If a student learns for himself. february 2005 should the fact that he earned two more points on his Physics exam than his friend be signif icant? Many students protest when I ask them this, indig nantly crying “I’m only proud of myselfl” It would seem that a student who earns an exem plary mark on a paper should be proud simply by peering at his work and seeing that “A- superior work” scrawled in the margin. Learning from sheer com petitive desire can cause a stu dent to lose sight of what is the true point of attending school: to leam. During an Italian seminar session Dr. Frauenfelder unwittingly summed up the intention of school in a short sentence: "Academics should be their own reward." Mastering a new concept, understanding a for mula, and being able to fabri cate new ideas are products of learning so spectacular that their very existence should be bounty, self-congratulatory behavior no longer being nec essary. Some boasting is inevitable, a student becoming enthusiastic about his accomplish ments, yet it is important to remember another aspect of Rousseau's ideal pupil: "He does not chatter, he acts." Though being competi tive is an important drive, one should constantly remind him self of his goals, lest- the pres sures of competition leave him with the sole desire to surpass other students, whether it ben efits him or not. At a school such as ours, it may be difficult to maintain that mindset, and students often fall intp the trap of seeking extraneous help for the sheer purpose of emphasiz ing a certain image; using unethical means, becoming obsessed with the success of other students; and aggrandiz ing the successes, boasting about knowledge as opposed to applying it. It can, however, be simply avoided. Students should seek and identify their specific motivations for learn ing, read some of the words of the past emdite, or perhaps place an inspirational quota tion in plain view to remind them of their goals. For the sheer purpose of improving one's opinion of learning, Rousseau's pupil's methods are worth a try; if this reasoning is insufficient, we can always have a competition to see who gets there first.
North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics Student Newspaper
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Feb. 1, 2005, edition 1
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